AL Voting Rights Restoration Project

The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced their efforts to Re-Enfranchise Alabama Voters with Felony Convictions.

The Alabama Voting Rights Project will take a simple Message across the State: A Felony Conviction does not Permanently take away a Person’s Right to Vote.

Many Alabama Residents who have Paid their Debts to Society are Eligible to Vote or to have their Voting Rights Restored by obtaining a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote.

The Campaign's Workers will Organize and Train Local Leaders in Communities across the State, Participate in Community Events and Forums, and go Door to Door, to Inform formerly Incarcerated People that they may have the Right to Vote, despite the fact that they have Felony Convictions.

The New Initiative comes about a year after the Passage of a State Law called the Definition of Moral Turpitude Act, which allows People Convicted of certain Felonies in Alabama to become Eligible to Register to Vote or Reclaim Voting Rights that had been stripped from them.

The Law established a List of Felony Convictions deemed Acts "of moral turpitude" that result in Automatic Disqualification from Voting in Alabama. Being Convicted only of Felonies not on that List no longer results in Automatic Disenfranchisement.

Previously, Decisions about which Felonies were considered "of moral turpitude", and therefore resulted in Loss of the Franchise, were made on an Arbitrary, Case-by-Case basis by each County's Board of Registrars. And Tens of Thousands of Alabamians who Lost their Voting Rights after being Convicted only of Crimes no longer considered "of moral turpitude" under the New Law are now Eligible to Restore their Right to Vote.

But Information about the Definition of Moral Turpitude and its Impacts on many Alabama Residents has not reached every Felon who could be helped by it. And State Secretary of State John Merrill said last year that he does Not Intend to Expend State Resources to inform People who are impacted by the Law that they are now able to Register to Vote.

That's where the CLC and SPLC hope that they can help, by getting the word out to Everyone in the State who is newly able to Register to Vote or Regain the Franchise under the New Law.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

AL Legislature Approves Bill That Would Restore Many Felons Voting Rights

Many Alabama Felons will soon regain the Right to Vote when Gov. Kay Ivey signs a Bill that landed on her Desk Thursday morning.

The Bill - HB282, called the Definition of Moral Turpitude Act, passed both Houses of the State Legislature Wednesday, a victory for backers who have sought for years to see it codified into Law.

If the Gov. signs it, the Bill would more clearly define the term "Moral Turpitude" as it is used in the state Constitution, which stipulates that "no person convicted of a felony of moral turpitude" may vote.

Rather than continuing to be loosely interpreted as referring to every Felony but a list of five that includes Driving Under the Influence and Aiding and Abetting, the term would refer to less than 50 Specific "felonies that involve moral turpitude which disqualify a person from exercising his or her right to vote," the Legislation states.

By redefining "Moral Turpitude," the Bill would effectively restore "thousands" of felons' right to Vote. "This bill is a step in the right direction," Danielle Lang, Deputy Director of Voting Rights at the Washington, D.C.-based Nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, said in a Thursday Statement. "With a stroke of her pen, Governor Ivey could enfranchise many Alabamans that have been wrongly denied the right to vote by the state's longstanding, arbitrary process of disenfranchisement."

For Generations, the Disenfranchisement of Felons has resulted in tens of thousands of Alabamians being left out of the Electoral Process even once they have done their Prison Time and Paid their Debts to Society. The Bill's Text states that it would go change that by "ensur[ing] that no one is wrongly excluded from the electoral franchise" and "provid[ing] a comprehensive list of acts that constitute moral turpitude for the limited purpose of disqualifying a person from exercising his or her right to vote."

Pastor Kenneth Glasgow, Founder of The Ordinary People Society, a Dothan Nonprofit Advocacy Group, said the Law would have wide-reaching impacts on many Felons across the State, including many Incarcerated Offenders who would regain the Right to Vote and therefore be Eligible to Vote via Absentee Ballot. Glasgow, who has been working to Re-Enfranchise many Felons since shortly after he was released from Prison in 2001, said the Legislation would also Restore Voting Rights for Alabamians who are Charged with Felonies but have not been Convicted.

Eileen J. Jones, a Spokeswoman for Gov. Kay Ivey, has said that she anticipates Ivey will sign the Legislation. "The Governor will probably sign it pending review of the legal office," Jones wrote Friday morning via email.

CLICK HERE for more information about HB282.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker